


Winter Morning

by Calliopes_Quill, flyingfoxtopus



Series: Sunrise Sunset [4]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers Family, Avengers Tower, BAMF Natasha Romanov, BAMF Peggy Carter, Baking, Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Has PTSD, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes deserves a break, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Domestic Avengers, F/F, F/M, Fan Art, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Hydra (Marvel), Hydra can suck it, Jarvis Is A Good Friend, M/M, Nurse OCs - Freeform, Nurse squad is now time travel squad, Original Character(s), Pan Natasha Romanov, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Protective Bucky Barnes, Rosie is a lesbian icon, Stress Baking, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony gives the best gifts, Tony's science shenanigans, oblivious disaster bisexuals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 15:27:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29686041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calliopes_Quill/pseuds/Calliopes_Quill, https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingfoxtopus/pseuds/flyingfoxtopus
Summary: Tony knows that the first birthday after you discover your life's work is a lie can be hard. He trashed a mansion on his. And Steve has been in bad shape since he ran out of leads on his Winter Soldier hunt. Tony knows what he needs to cheer him up. It is possible that in his enthusiasm he rushed the math. In his defence, dry runs are for suckers.★It’s been two years since the war. Two years trying to find some degree of normal again. After all they've seen, Peggy, Dawn, Ginny, Jack, and Rosie thought nothing could surprise them.They were wrong.★Bucky is doing just fine. His mind can be foggy, but he's got other things going. He's free, he's got a bank card that draws on an old Hydra account and it doesn't look like any one's noticed, an apartment within walking distance of the market, and alerts set up on his phone so he can keep an eye on Steve without actually putting the guy in danger.The last thing he needs is a jerk with no regard for whether or not he's being followed crashing back into his life with the ghosts of their past in tow.Nothing parts the fog like the sun coming out. Bucky's going to have to learn to live in the light again whether he's ready to or not.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), Natasha Romanov (Marvel)/Original Female Character(s), Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Sunrise Sunset [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1801909
Comments: 12
Kudos: 5





	1. July 4th, 1947 & July 4th, 2014

**Author's Note:**

> Lot of art in this first chapter. Don't get used to it.

** July 4th, 1947 **

Peggy wrapped her arm around Dawn's waist. July fourth had been hard last year and worse the year before. Everyone had been celebrating. Fireworks and parades did not pair well with the memory of the dead love of one's life. She was glad she didn’t have to spend today alone. A small reunion with her closest friends was better. Howard had left for some gala or other an hour ago, and the 107th was still deployed, but she had Rosie, Ginny, Jack, and Dawn. Their surprise visit was the highlight, not just of her day, but probably of her month. Dawn understood what she had lost, Rosie and Ginny had spent the last handful of hours completely eviscerating her male co workers for doubting her, and Jack as it turned out, made an excellent old fashioned cocktail.

She lifted her glass. It was strange how Steve could be such a huge presence in her life, even after he disappeared. He hung like a shadow over every relationship she had so much as considered in the last two years. On her end because who could really compare to her sweet, loving, and supportive boy. On the part of the men when they discovered who her last suitor had been, because they all thought he was a great hero of myth. Completely missing the things that had really made Steve special. He was a figure in her professional life too. Too many of the men she worked with thought her primary value was her connection to Steve, although never the ones who had met him. Anyone who had worked with both of them seemed to understand that he had loved her because of her competence. She was still working out how to convince the others without getting herself killed. Worse, the person she wanted to talk to about it, was the one person who’s absence had caused all of her strife. “To the ones we love, that are gone.”

“The ones we loved.” The other’s echoed.

Dawn squeezed Peggy as she sipped her drink. If Bucky was a spector in her life, how much worse was it for her friend? At home in Calgary, with Ginny and Rosie to lean on, and no connection to the world they had lived in during the war, she could almost forget what she was missing sometimes. Peggy was here. In Steve and Bucky's hometown, working in the office where the boys probably would have if they had made it home. Not that Dawn knew that officially. They all paid lip service to the idea that she worked at the phone company, even if none of them believed it any more than they thought they could beat Peggy in an arm-wrestling contest.

Steve and Bucky wouldn’t want them to live in the past. She touched the little suns glowing on her ears. They would want their girls to be happy. “And to the future.”

** July 4th, 2014 **

Natasha crossed her legs under her and settled in on Tony’s workbench. One of the robots brought her a green smoothie, extra pineapple, just the way she liked it. Being back in the States was nice. Clint was even supposed to be coming out to visit her in New York. There was also something irrationally comforting about watching Tony dive head first into a crazy inventing project. And this one was particularly crazy. This wasn’t some suit upgrade, or even a fun gadget. No, this was big. “You realize this is a terrible idea.”

“‘S no' a 'errible i'ea.” Tony mumbled around the apple in his mouth. He crunched off a bite, swallowing it faster than was wise. “I’ve done the math. All we need are two fixed times and two fixed locations. We know where and when Peggy will be, we know where and when we are.”

He crunched through the apple and spun the floating wall of equations around so Natasha could read them. Dozens of formulas filled in with the specific variables for the dates and locations he was looking at. Elaborate animated diagrams that shifted and morphed. A mobius strip twisting around and around infinitely. Space time calculations and electrical vectors. There was an entire second panel devoted to the blue prints Tony was manufacturing. “Time’s a flat circle, Red, and plastic enough that it can recover from a minor hiccup.”

“It can recover from losing _Carter_.” Natasha raised one eyebrow, the math wasn’t the part she was questioning. She was questioning the part where they removed the only obstacle that had stopped Hydra from taking over and the world didn’t fall to the Nazi’s. It wasn’t that long ago that she and Steve and Sam had stopped those same Nazi’s from launching flying death boats and killing millions of civilians. She wasn’t sure she would survive long enough to save the world without the legend that was Peggy Carter protecting her and the rest of Fury’s inner circle.

“Dugan, Jarvis, and Sousa take over. It _will_ work out.” Tony installed a prism in the matrix. The machine was starting to come together. It was big. About the size of an old fashioned phone booth. He wondered if anyone would judge him for painting it blue. It already had an indicator light on the top. “I had Bruce check the calculations. Twice… and we can always put her back."

Nat took a long drink of her smoothie and considered more of the calculations. They all seemed to center around ΔS≥0, which was a basic physics constant. From the not insignificant portion of the calculations Nat could do in her head, it all checked out. “Have you considered how pissed Steve is going to be that you’re defying the laws of time and space?”

Tony waved away her objection with a sprocket wrench. “Steve’s going to be thrilled. I can’t get him Barnes, but I can get him Carter.”

Nat rolled the last half of her drink around the bottom of the cup. The math was good. Tony's experiments usually worked out, although whether that was a good thing or not was occasionally up for debate. And there was no doubting that Steve was going crazy missing his people. “What does it say about our lives that time travel is easier than tracking down one person?”

“Says more about him than us, I think.” Tony took another bite of his apple and rolled his stool around the back of the machine, connecting cables as he went. An hour or so to run some diagnostics and they should be good to go.

★

Steve crossed his arms and stared at the map on his wall. There were more locations crossed off than circled. The entire continental United States for starters. Brazil. Argentina. Most of Southeast Asia. He was running out of places to look. It was the running out more than the looking that was driving him crazy. The map on the wall had started as a simple way to keep track of geographic locations. Now it was starting to look like the evidence his friends were going to need to have him committed. Red scribbles and notes all over the globe, additional clues and pictures tacked up around the central map, their originally neat border now overlapping and sprawling out to cover most of the wall, not to mention the other stacks of files and reference books that had taken over his kitchen table. One picture hadn't been covered. It maintained a place of importance, right above Alaska on the left hand side of the map. A surveillance still from the Smithsonian. Bucky in a baseball cap, independent thought back in his eyes. It was the only photo of him they'd been able to find since his disappearance. Everything else was second hand inference. A post-it-note covered his chest. _Where are you?_

Hopefully, Natasha would be back this week, for that matter she might already be back. He hadn't actually left his rooms today to check. She could double check the intelligence he and Sam had compiled, go through it and narrow down the remaining options. He was thinking former Soviat Bloc countries were the most likely at this point. They made sense. Bucky would blend in, and they knew he spoke at least Russian. Eastern Europe was a lot of ground to cover. Especially when they were looking for someone who had a natural talent for avoiding cameras of all kinds.

“Excuse me, Captain Rogers.” A digital British voice emanated from the ceiling. “Mr. Stark has requested your presence in the lab.”

“Tell him I’m not in the mood for a birthday party.” Steve said without looking away from the map. He'd told Tony he didn't want a party at least four times. He'd also brushed off Sam's suggestion that he visit to check out the fireworks. All he wanted to do for his birthday was order Chinese food and go through the intelligence again. It was another one of those days where he missed being able to drink. 

Maybe he should have taken Sam up on the offer of his spare bedroom. Not to go to the festivities, but he could have spent the day with Peggy. Even if she didn’t remember him or what year it was, he still loved her, she could still make him feel better.

Silence settled over Steve’s rooms again. He didn’t like music when he was trying to work. It was distracting. Everything was either new and unfamiliar, or it made him remember. Getting maudlin didn’t help him focus. 

J.A.R.V.I.S.’s opening charm sounded again a few minutes later. “Mr. Stark understands your reluctance to engage in frivolities given recent events. However, he insists that this will be worth your time.”

★

The doors to the lab opened with a soft whooshing noise. Steve still wasn't used to the hyper-futuristic surroundings of the tower. The main benefit he could see right now was the transparent doors proved to him that the lab was in fact empty. J.A.R.V.I.S. didn't lie, Steve wasn't sure he even could, but he did occasionally omit important facts.

Empty might be an exaggeration. Nat was back for one thing, perched on the work bench. Less comfortingly, Tony had built some kind of crazy, phone booth looking, contraption. Steve braced himself for some high level insanity. If there was one thing Tony had inherited from his father, aside from questionable dating habits, it was being too smart for his own good. Although, Nat was sitting on the lab table. So it was probably fine.

“CAP!” Tony bounced excitedly next to the humming machine. “I know you said no birthday presents, but I got you a little something.”

Tony swung the door to the machine open. Five figures tumbled out. 

Steve froze. He recognised all of them. One of them was slightly more important to him than the others. No offence to them, but he’d never planned to spend his life with Ginny and Jack or Rosie. Even Dawn, the girl who made Bucky light up like she hung the stars, was never going to be the center of his life. But Peggy. She was his pole star. His true north. He had fully intended to make Peggy his wife.

Peggy freed herself from under a groaning Rosie. _Oh, to live in a world where these things happen to someone else._ She needed to protect the others, she had significantly more combat experience than all of them, including Jack. And certainly more experience in the odder aspects of life. She blinked around the bright serial space. Nothing in this room made any sense. Everything was too smooth, and half of it was glowing. Her eyes fell on the large male figure standing frozen in the doorway. Impossible. She had no idea what was going on, but that especially was impossible. “Steve?”

“Peggy!” Steve pulled her into a rough hug. She fit perfectly against him. Her hands curled against his chest exactly the way they used to. She was here. His Peggy, young and bright, and vibrant. She was here. Against all odds and logic, she was here.

He was either going to kiss Tony or kill him. He'd figured out which later.

Someone else needed kissing first.

If Nat was anyone else, she would have gaped at the tangle of people on the floor. As it was, she had stopped drinking. The plan had been to bring Carter forward. Not Carter and all her friends. Friends who looked worryingly like civilians. 

And Cap wasn’t going to be any help. He didn’t look like he was going to come up for air any time soon.

“Told you he’d like his present.” Tony mumbled, unable to look away from the incongruous sight of Captain America full on _making out with a girl._

Nat turned slowly to face Tony. Yes, Steve was kissing someone, and it looked like he was doing a better job than when he had kissed her, that was definitely not the biggest issue here. “Are you _fucking_ kidding me, Stark?”

Rosie stood, fixing her hair. “I hate to interject myself into a conversation where I haven’t been introduced, but I’d like to second that question.”

Ginny hauled herself to her feet. “And once you answer that, I have several related questions. Staring with _how the fuck?_ And running through most of the other interrogatives.”

“Personally, I think we should start with _where the fuck?_ But I agree that basically all of them are important.” Jack offered a hand to Dawn to help her to her feet. The floor under them was glass, machines were building other machines with no apparent outside input. He didn’t think they were in Kansas anymore.

“Pegs.” Steve breathed the pet name into her lips. She was here. She was real, and she didn't look like she had spent a lifetime without him, and _she was here._

Peggy clung to his chest. He was alive. How was he alive? Did 'how' matter? He was alive and kissing her like they hadn't spent a moment apart. That had to be more important than anything surrounding the fact. “Steve.”

Dawn cleared her throat. “I think perhaps, that…” She made some educated, if slightly insane, guesses based on their surroundings and the fact the woman had addressed the man as ‘Stark’. “Howard’s... son?... can fill the four of us in, while the two of you catch up.”

Peggy took a half step back, so she was no longer plastered against Steve’s body. She smoothed her hair, trying to regain some semblance of dignity. “It would be ridiculously irresponsible for me to leave you until we figure out what is going on.”

“Damn it, Peggy. Stop pretending the world is on your shoulders.” Rosie rolled her eyes. Peggy might be the one with the most eclectic field experience, but it wasn't like the rest of them were wet behind the ears. “Steve, are we safe here?”

Steve managed to tear his eyes away from Peggy to look at his friends, although he refused to move the hand spread over her back. “Safer here than anywhere else.”

“Then get out of here.” Ginny directed, taking her husband’s hand and waving Peggy away. “We _can_ look after ourselves from time to time.”

Steve didn’t need any further encouragement. Ginny and Rosie knew what they were doing. He all but picked Peggy up and carried her back to his rooms. They had a lot of catching up to do.


	2. July 5th, 2014

** July 5th, 2014 **

Steve trailed his fingers up the soft skin of Peggy’s back, tracing an infinity symbol around the pair of circular scars on her shoulder. He would have to follow up with Tony for more of an explanation, but this was definitely his Peggy. Catching up was taking a while. They’d covered the main points. What year it was. The fact he had survived but been frozen for years. That Tony was in fact, Howard’s son, but even smarter. Peggy going to work for the SSR. But after that, they kept getting side tracked. In his defence, he’d thought he’d never get to kiss her again, let alone everything else. 

The details were coming out sporadically now, bookend by kisses and caresses. His heart had broken when she had told him how she had poured out the last vial of his blood. She’d had to say goodbye in a way he never had. They’d taken a long break from storytelling after that. Steve had held her close and lavished her with attention, determined to show her that he had never forgotten her. That he could never forget her.

Once he was sure she felt loved. They'd moved on. His chest felt a million pounds lighter for telling her about S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra. Peggy was the one person who would understand his Bucky obsession.

“He shot you?” Peggy ran her hand over his stomach. There was no evidence of injury there. Not that she’d really expected any, her lovely boy healed fast.

Steve shrugged, catching her hand and pulling it back up to his chest. He wanted to feel her palm over his heart. Peggy's touch was always reassuring. “He wasn’t himself.”

“Obviously." Peggy snorted, nestling her head on his shoulder. "Barnes would never shoot you.”

Steve stroked the back of her hand. Bucky would never hide from him either, but it had been months, and there was no sign of him. Steve kept waking up, expecting to find Bucky sitting on his kitchen counter, eating his leftovers. He never was. Peggy had tumbled back into his life before Bucky had walked. 

Peggy recognized her beloved's worried look. Her sweet protective boy. He would do anything for the people he cared about, and there had never been a question in her mind that the top of that list was James Buchanan Barnes. But as part of that, he tended to get reckless when there was nothing he could do. All she could offer at the moment was distraction. She touched his cheek and made him look down at her. "Kiss me."

Steve did. Melting into her. How could he feel lost and directionless with her back at his side? Together they could get through anything. Figure out the future. Find Bucky. Save the world when that inevitably came up again.

“Okay, weird news.” Tony kicked the door to Steve’s room open. “I’ve been doing some-- Hi Peggy-- I’ve been doing some math.”

Steve rolled Peggy closer to his side and pulled the sheets up to her throat. “Tony! We have talked about knocking first.”

Tony glared at him over his tablet. “I’m not here to see what you want for dinner, Sandara Dee. I’m here because there might be two Carters now.”

That shocked Steve out of his irritation. “What?”

Tony shoved the tablet under Steve’s nose. It had started with him trying to figure out how he had ended up bringing forward five people instead of one. That had led to a series of google searches. All of which had shown him that Peggy had still done the things she was supposed to have done. There were biographies and news articles, even her S.H.I.E.L.D. file. All of them looked exactly the same as when he had done his research to find a time to take her from. That had sent him back down a theoretical physics rabbit hole. It had taken hours, but he thought he had figured out where he had gone wrong. He’d left a slightly queasy looking Bruce going over the new calculations.

Steve read the article on the screen. A touching tribute to Peggy Carter in honour of her being presented with an award for a lifetime of service to America. Steve had read it before. It was exactly the same as it had been the first time.Tony might be right. There might be two Peggys.

“It could just be echoes. Maybe history needs more time to reset itself. Or because we have first hand memories we might be holding onto information that way. Or--”

“Hang on. There is an easy way to figure this out.” Steve grabbed his phone off the bedside table, snagging his shirt off the floor at the same time. He dropped the shirt in Peggy’s lap and flipped through his contacts. He really hoped that Tony was over complicating things and they hadn’t accidentally messed up time.

Peggy curled her fingers into the soft fabric, she should put it on, but she was facilitated by the glowing glass rectangle in his hand. Smaller than the one 'Tony' had handed him. When he had picked it up, it had held an illuminated picture of Steve, sandwiched between the red-haired woman from earlier, and a handsome black man who appeared to be taking the photo. Now it looked distinctly like an address book. The image shifted every time his thumb touched the glass. What was it?

Steve double checked the time before he hit call. It was early, but Peggy tended to be more lucid in the morning anyway. Breakfast would be over. That was good enough. “Hello, this is Captain Rogers, would you mind connecting me to Director Carter’s room?”

“Of course Captain Rogers.” The duty nurse said, alway bright and efficient. “She’s having a good day today. She’ll be thrilled to hear from you.”

Steve listened to a few moments of jangly hold music before there was another click. “Steve?”

“Hi, Pegs." Steve did his best to keep his voice level and calm. If there were two Peggys he didn't want to panic the more fragile of the two before he knew what was going on. "Just wanted to make sure they’re treating my best girl right. What did you have for breakfast?”

“Oatmeal again. This insistence on soft food does make one feel like an invalid.” The soft slightly wavering tones of the older Peggy Steve had gotten to know answered easily. The nurse had been right. She was having a good day.

Peggy finally shrugged on Steve’s shirt as she listened Steve continued to chat. The weather in Washington. How Tony was doing. General small talk. All delivered in a softly affectionate voice. And he kept calling the person on the other end ‘Pegs’, the same way he called her ‘Pegs’.

Steve hung up and pressed the phone against his forehead. Tony needed a babysitter. That was the only solution. Tony was not allowed to do anything without adult supervision ever again... And neither was Nat. Or Bruce… That was what this came down to. He was going to personally double Maria's salary so she could follow Tony around with a spray bottle and stop him every time he had a 'good' idea.

Peggy watched him. He was obviously going through something, but she had questions that needed answers. Starting with the obvious. “Was that… me?”

“Sure was.” Steve said dropping the phone on the bed next to him and rubbing his eyes. “Okay Tony. What did you do and how do we fix it?”

★

“We might not have to fix anything. We got our math wrong. Not very wrong. But wrong. Here look at this.” Bruce waved away most of the calculations on a screen, leaving two rows of deceptively simple calculations. 

ΔS≥0, ΔS=205.76/ΔS= -205.76

"The math worked, it just didn't do what we thought it would." Tony clarified, always a little defensive about his work. “The delta constant can’t be overcome, but it can be equalised. We thought we were mirroring the equations, we were actually zeroing it out. When the focal waves couldn't compensate for the quark asymmetry, they modulated the parameters. Instead of transmuting the subatomic particles, the machine took a quantum imprint. We couldn’t transpose the actual material. Instead of reconstituting, it just just constituted. It was built to absorb ambient dark energy from the surrounding area. It absorbed ambient matter. All the individual elemental building blocks were available in the tower.” Tony picked up a coffee mug and brandished it at Steve. “See this? It is .0005 newtons lighter than it was yesterday. I would bet there are dozens-- hundreds of objects around the tower that donated atoms. We probably donated atoms.”

Steve rubbed his eyes. That certainly didn't _sound_ promising. “Simplify it for us slow people, Tony.”

“We made a time fax machine, not a time transporter.” Tony fidgeted with a stylus. Building a time fax machine was still pretty impressive, and might have fewer ramifications than an actual time machine. 

“They said a lot of words, and I’m not sure all of them were english.” Rosie muttered looking up at the ceiling. All she wanted to know was if she was going to be attacked by Morlocks. Dawn would be thrilled if they were living in one of her favorite books.

Bruce took in the little group of time travelers. There was a lot less crying and rocking in the fetal position than he would have expected. He doubted he would hold up as well as they were if he was dropped into surroundings as unfamiliar as twenty-first century New York had to be for 1940’s natives. “They are all taking this whole future thing really well.”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Spend some time in a Hydra base during the war. At some point you stop being surprised.”

“For the record, I am losing my shit a little. I just don’t want to embarrass my wife by screaming.” Jack said dryly. He leaned forward on the work table and dragged one of the textbooks towards him. He knew he should have paid more attention in physics class. Quantum physics was covered in high school, right? They definitely hadn't touched on it during his philosophy degree.

“And I appreciate your self control.” Ginny rubbed the back of his neck affectionately. His dry sense of humour was comforting in this tumultuous time.

"The good news is, we definitely didn't violate the laws of physics or tear a hole in the universe." Bruce tapped his fingers on his arm. "The bad news is we might need to check the tower for structural abnormalities."

Peggy took a long slow breath. "Doctor -- Banner, was it? From my understanding of your explanation, it doesn't sound like you think we _need_ to fix the fact that my friends and I now have elderly doppelgangers. It sounds an awful lot like you don't think we _can_ fix it."

Bruce shifted nervously. Technically not all of them had elderly dopplegangers. Technically some of them had already passed away. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Well, how far would you go?" It was oddly reassuring to know that scientists were still the same in this century. Peggy was sure there were thousands of other similarities she could find if she just looked.

"We don't know how to fix it, _yet_?" Bruce answered nervously.

Steve wrapped an arm around Peggy with a sigh. It wasn't that he didn't want his friends here. He just didn't want his friends to be _stuck_ here. "Welcome to the twenty-first century. I promise it is actually pretty great."

★

The lab didn’t feel like an appropriate place to deal with the fall out from temporal displacement. Steve had brought them all back to his rooms for now. They could sit and talk through something resembling a plan. At least, everyone else could sit. Steve could pace. He’d had a whole team of specialists to help him adapt, and even then it had taken an alien invasion for him to really feel like he belonged here. Would it be better or worse for them? They had other people they could talk to about what was happening, and Steve had broken the trail.

One thing at a time. They didn’t even know if they were staying long term. Right now they just needed to tackle immediate needs. “Okay, looks like you’ll be staying for a while. Tony already has you set up in the guest suites. I--uh-- you’ll need some clothes, I’ll send someone to pick some things up. And phones. We’ll need to get you phones. I think I still have the crash course video for how they work somewhere.” Steve looked desperately at Natasha. What was he forgetting? What was he forgetting?

Nat considered. The same cultural catch-up Steve had received, obviously. But that wasn’t pressing unless they wanted to spend time in the wild. If they were staying, even for a little while, they would need some financial independence. “Hill will get them set up on the Avengers discretionary account for now. But we might need to look into getting them papers. Depending on what decisions we all come to.”

“J.A.R.V.I.S!” Steve exclaimed, smacking himself in the forehead. “They need to be introduced to J.A.R.V.I.S.”

“Who’s Jarvis? And why is he so much more important than all the other people in the building?” Ginny asked, inspecting the strange machine on the kitchen counter. It had a bin full of coffee beans, and it appeared to be plumbed in. It didn’t look like any coffee pot she had ever seen. And there were buttons. So many buttons.

“That would be me, ma’am.” A voice sounded from the ceiling. A blue light glowing from around a panel on the wall. Rosie dropped the book she had just picked up. “Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. J.A.R.V.I.S. Think of me as an omnipresent butler, always there to answer any questions or see to any requests. The residents of the tower also use me to convey messages and check on one another's statuses.”

Peggy stared around the room in a panic. “Why does the ceiling sound like Mr. Jarvis?”

“My voice interface was modeled on the speech patterns of Edwin Jarvis. Mr. Stark found his accent particularly conducive to conveying information in a soothing, non-confrontational manner.”

“Howard wasn’t the best dad. His butler practically raised Tony.” Steve almost whispered, rubbing Peggy’s back. Jarvis and Peggy had been close. So many of her stories were the two of them getting caught up in some crazy adventure or other.

“Steve?” Dawn studied the map and the papers surrounding it. There was a photo pinned to the corner. It was Bucky, but it was new, and it was… different. “What is this?”

Steve looked between Dawn and the picture she was staring at. “You should sit down.”


	3. July 5th, 2014 - July 8th, 2014

Steve was starting to remember why he had been more intimidated by the Canadian nurses than by the enemy during the war. Keeping Dawn away from the door felt like he was putting life and limb on the line. “You can’t just go running off to Europe.”

He was big, but Dawn had an advantage. Steve didn’t want to hurt her, and Bucky had shown her how to properly throw a punch. She didn’t even need to drop him. Just stagger him for a second so she could get by. Once she was out of the building… She didn’t know what she would do, but she would figure it out when she got there. “I’ve walked across the continent before, Steve. I’m not afraid to do it again.”

Nat leaned against the back of the couch, settling in to watch the fight. Dawn was a solid foot shorter than Steve, she obviously wasn't a trained fighter, but Nat knew who her money was on. “I _like_ her.”

“Yeah,” Rosie sighed. Bucky was alive, and the spark of life that Dawn had just been starting to get back had roared to life. “Me too.”

Nat’s head snapped around to look at the blonde. Cute. Conflicted eyes. Had joined the expeditionary forces during the Patriotic War. _Interesting._

“Dawn Danielsen.” Peggy said, sternly. “I stopped Steve Rogers from charging in unprepared to rescue that man. I can stop you too.”

“He’s alive,” Dawn felt her lower lip start to quiver. The only thing that had been keeping her from breaking down and blubbering like a child was the drive to go rescue her boy. “He’s alive, and he’s probably alone and scared. And they did terrible things to him all over again. And…. And we could have stopped it if we just looked for him harder.”

Ginny wrapped her arms around Dawn and let her sob into her shoulder. Guiding her away from the door in the process. “How much harder do you want us to have looked for him, lovely? The 107th spent a week scouring that gorge for him. They went back in the spring… You heard Steve. Hydra picked him up within hours, and with the blizzard, there was no way we could have tracked them. You know the boys would never have given up if they knew. If they even thought."

Dawn sniffed and wiped her eyes. “You’re right.”

“There we go.” Peggy rubbed Dawn’s back and eased her away from Ginny. “Now, let’s sit down and go about this rationally. Steven, we’ll need everything you have. And perhaps some tea.”

“I’ll get you started, then order food.” Steve said, gesturing to the table with its stacks of files and overflowing notebooks. He paused before he left to find the takeout menus he had stashed somewhere. “I never stopped looking, Dawn. Once I knew there was a chance he was still out there… People are looking for him.”

Rosie settled on the couch and patted the spot next to her. “Sit down, Dawn. We’ll find him.”

The way Dawn tore through every file that she got her hands on made Steve very glad he only kept the redacted version of Bucky’s past in his rooms. Natasha had declared the details irrelevant as long as they had locations, and Steve couldn’t stand reading about the things Hydra had made Bucky do. He couldn’t imagine how much more they would disturb Dawn’s gentle sensibilities. Bucky would never have forgiven him for scarring her with the full extent of what had happened.

Conversation dropped to a minimum. Everyone absorbed in their tasks. Steve settled in himself, starting by grabbing water for everyone. Then by distributing more files as people finished the one they were working on.

Hours passed in a tense silence, broken only by an occasional request for clarification. Usually about something that had been invented after the time they had been extracted from. The sun outside the tower dimmed. J.A.R.V.I.S. turned up the lights in the living room.

“Alright.” Ginny rocked to her feet and plucked the files out of Dawn and Rosie’s hands. “I’m sending us all to bed. We aren’t going to do him any good if we are falling asleep where we sit and he’s been on his own long enough that one night won’t make a difference.”

** July 8th, 2014 **

The next three days continued in a similar fashion. Everyone gathered in Steve’s room to comb through intelencence and see what clues they could piece together. Dawn relaxed a little once it was clear they were making progress. She was still anxious to go looking for Bucky, but she accepted that blindly searching half a content was a bad idea.

Breakfast in the guest floor's common room also helped relax her. Ginny insisted that none of them were allowed to start working until they had eaten a decent breakfast. And Tony was an excelten host. Always ready with a smile, frequently accompanied by an omelet. From the comments Steve and Natasha had dropped, he was on his way to bed while they were waking up. Either way, he made an excellent breakfast companion.

Steve brushed his lips over the back of Peggy’s neck. There was something about watching her prepare a bowl of oatmeal with fruit that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Something he was feeling a lot lately. Between having her back and having other people taking the Bucky search as seriously as he did, life was pretty good these days. “Have I mentioned I love waking up next to you.”

“Love not having to sneak around to spend the night with me, you mean.” Peggy teased, holding his arms so he wouldn’t leave. She loved it too. She loved everything about this century so far. Sleeping with Steve without questioning whether people would lose respect for her. Working on a difficult intelligence problem with people who didn’t question her judgment and even deferred to her much of the time. Even if it was just the people inside this tower that were so liberal.

Ginny's eyes narrowed. They were back in the early throes of love. The stage where it was all too easy to get carried away. “Rogers, if you impregnate the esteemable Peggy Carter outside of wedlock, I will personally castrate you.”

“I’m not daft.” Peggy flicked her teabag at Ginny. “We used a rubber. And may I say they have improved dramatically in the last 70 years.”

Tony's head snapped up at that tidbit of information. “Hang on. You haven’t left the tower since they showed up.”

Steve cleared his throat, his coffee suddenly fascinating. “I haven’t.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. Steve was… embarrassed... “So either, Peggy Carter is lying, or Captain Can’t-talk-to-women already had condoms in his room.”

“Someone thought it would be funny to buy me a box." Steve stared determinedly into his mug. A box of condoms, accompanied by a note about being happy to be his wingman if he needed help finding someone to practice with, because Nat was convinced she was a comedian. "I never got around to throwing them out.”

Natasha grinned and curled her legs under herself. “Someone was right. It was totally worth it.”

Rosie giggled. It was good to know that these people could take the piss out of Steve. He got too serious without someone to shake him out of his too focused attitude and make sure he maintained perspective. He needed his friends, Barnes, Peggy, the Howling Commandos. People who didn't buy the hype when it came to 'Captain America'.

Steve considered the women on the sitting next to each other at the table. “Hey, Nat. Has anyone formally introduced you to Rosie?”

Peggy looked up at him confused. “We’ve been here for days, why would they need to be formally introduced?”

Steve shrugged. He knew that they wouldn't get in trouble for it now, but years of being cautious about this sort of thing had left him with habits that were hard to break. “I think they might get along.”

Peggy flicked her eyes between Steve, the redhead, and her friend. “Oh. I see.”

Steve winked at her. There it was. God, he had missed having Peggy around. They got on the same page so quickly. “Rosie, Natasha. Natasha, Rosie.”

“Hi.” Natasha leaned forward, elbows on the table. 

Rosie offered her a hand. “A pleasure.”

Jack shook his head and went to refill his coffee mug. He clapped a hand to Steve's shoulder on the way past. “We’re staying by the way. So you can tell Tony and Bruce to stop working on a way to send us back.”

Steve looked at his friend, slightly incredulous. That announcement was shocking, and a little out of the blue. “Just like that?”

“Sometimes you have to make bold life decisions.” Jack shrugged. “We’re already not the same people we were when we got caught up. We know too much. Peggy’s obviously not going anywhere.”

“Not on your life.” Peggy curled herself protectively around Steve’s arm. There was another version of her taking care of her responsibilities in New York. She could stay here and do her best to keep the love of her life out of trouble, or at least get into trouble right alongside him.

Jack nodded at her and pressed on with his list. “Wild horses couldn’t drag Dawn away before she knows Bucky’s safe. This century is worlds friendlier to Rosie, even if it’s not perfect. And all Ginny and I have ever needed is each other.”

A warm bubble of affection bloomed in Steve’s stomach. His friends were staying. “Sounds like you thought about this.”

Jack snorted and took a long sip of his coffee. The coffee was good enough that he and Ginny would have stayed just for it, let alone for the friends who needed them. “I have a doctorate in Philosophy, Steve. Thinking about things is what I do.”

★

The afternoon consisted of another marathon research session. Steve sat next to Peggy, their knees touching under his little kitchen table. Nat took over the other side of the table, using two laptops and a tablet to check any facts and grab any updated intel the others asked for. Instant information was another thing his temporally displaced friends had taken to right away. It was such a change from what they'd had to work with back in the day, when they'd been lucky to have one clue that could be run down let alone the 50 or 60 they had now. Steve had almost forgotten how much better it was in the face of the constant deluge. Having the others remind him had reinvigorated the entire search.

“Romania.” Peggy said definitely, setting down the file she had been pursuing. 

Natasha leaned over her notes. “I agree. Probably Bucharest.”

Steve didn’t even bother to check their work. If Peggy and Nat agreed, that was more than good enough for him. “Can we narrow it down further?”

Natasha’s eyes flicked from side to side as she considered her options. “... I’m going to ask Tony to do something. You’re not going to question the legal or moral ramifications of the request.”

Natasha stepped into the hall, returning a half hour later, wearing her cat in the cream expression. "Confirmed Bucharest, we think we have a building."

“All right." Steve steeled himself and turned to the rest of the group. "You stay here. Nat and I will go get him.”

“Like hell you will, Rogers.” Rosie glared and crossed her arms over her chest. She was completely fed up with being left behind. And if the expressions on her friends’ faces were any indication, so were they. "He was important to us too."

"We spent six years being left behind. We're not putting up with it again." Ginny's jaw was set. Her eyes flashing and determined. 

Jack leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he looked up at Steve seriously. "I owe Bucky my life. I can't sit by if he needs help."

Dawn's heart warmed. Her amazing, fierce friends, always indisputably on her side.

Peggy set a hand on Steve's forearm. "They're right, darling. This is our fight as much as yours."

Steve cupped her elbow. Peggy's touch anchoring him in the moment. "I can't lose either of you. Not again."

Peggy squeezed his arm. She understood. Steve was strong. But the people he loved were his Achilles heel. And he'd lost Bucky so many times already. Losing her the once couldn't have helped either. "That sounds to me like you're going to need all the help you can get."

Natasha looked up from her phone. As much worry as she ever showed furrowing her brow. "Whoever is going, we'd better get moving. The morally and legally questionable thing we did to track him down _may_ have triggered some alarm bells for other people."


	4. July 9th, 2014

** July 9th, 2014 **

Dawn stared out the window of the private plane. Hands behind her head, working her stubborn hair into a tight french braid. They were finally on the road to finding Bucky. They would find him. He would be safe. And then… and then she didn't know, but she would figure it out.

The important thing was she wasn't getting left behind this time. She was going to be right there with Steve. They were taking precautions. She was dressed practically, heavy dark pants with half a dozen pockets stuffed with medical supplies, body armor that Steve and Natasha assured her would stop pretty much anything, and in a moment, her hair would be tightly braided down her back and out of the way.

Steve watched Dawn secure her hair and double check the fit of her bulletproof vest. Had she always been so _small_? A strong breeze could knock her over. They only had a vague idea of what they were going to find inside and Steve would never forgive himself if something happened to Bucky’s girl on his watch. “You’re sure I can’t convince you to stay in the van?”

Dawn zipped her sweater over the chest armour, concealing the uggly grey under lilac coloured fleece. “You can not.”

★

The margins of the notebook were filled with doodled suns and stars. Snippets of half remembered lines of poetry. Quotes from Steve, not the famous ones. The silly things he said during their down time. A picture of Steve in his new uniform. Dawn smiled sadly as she paged through it. Bucky had always thought the little things were more important than the big. "It's him."

"Why didn't he call? We could have looked after him." Steve asked softly. The apartment was so sad. Peeling wallpaper, a cracked kitchen backsplash, a bare mattress with a sleeping bag on the floor, bookshelf made of old cinderblocks, newspaper pasted to the window in place of curtains, a distinct smell of mold from the cupboard under the sink. 

What made it worse was Bucky had clearly _tried_ to make it nice. The bookshelf was full. A throw blanket was draped over the couch. The cheap second-hand dishes were scrupulously clean. A whole page of the journal had been devoted to a meal plan, with the bottom of the page torn out in a way that made Steve think it had been a grocery list.

Dawn patted his arm. She didn't know. They didn't know what facts Bucky was working with. Whatever he knew that they didn't or vise versa, he had to think he was doing what was best for Steve. He had to think he was doing what it would take to keep Steve safe.

Something creaked near the door to the apartment. Steve grabbed Dawn and shoved her behind him protectively.

Bucky stood in the doorway, grocery bag spilled at his feet. Steve was in his kitchen. Steve and someone shorter wearing purple. Probably the same girl as last time. She’d put herself in danger to save Steve then. Bucky had already categorized her as an ally. He could deal with her after he figured out why Steve was here.

Steve took a hesitant step forward. Careful to keep Dawn sheltered behind him. He wanted to know what was going on in Bucky's head before he let him at the largely defenceless woman. “You know who I am?”

“You’re Steve. I read about you in a museum.” He was more than that to Bucky, but that felt like a good place to start.

Dawn hugged the journal to her chest. He was really alive. Really here. His hair was so long, but he’d been eating since the last picture they’d had of him, and his clothes were clean, if a little worn. They’d take him home with them, and everything would be fine.

Steve didn’t like the way Bucky’s eyes had flicked around the room when he had said that. It was a trapped expression, feral. It was also very similar to the face Bucky made when he wasn’t telling the truth. “I know, you’re nervous. You have every right to be. But you’re lying.”

Bucky’s jaw clenched. Bucky had never been able to lie to Steve. Even not telling the entire truth was hard. And the Winter Soldier didn’t tell anyone anything. “I’m not who you think I am.”

Not the answer Steve had expected. He expected explanations or confusion. Not denial. “Who do I think you are?”

“I don’t know.” His friend Bucky. Hydra’s pet killer. It didn’t matter which past life Steve was looking for. They were both over. 

Steve was getting more than a little frustrated with this conversation, and the longer they stood here dancing around the subject, the longer Hydra had to narrow down their location. He wanted to get Bucky and Dawn and everyone else safely back on the plane and on their way to the nice secure Tower, where they could figure things out without bullet riddled interruptions. “You pulled me from the river. Why?”

“I don’t know.” It had been instinct. Bucky protected Steve. Bucky had always protected Steve. Even when it cost him everything. _He protected Steve_.

Dawn stepped out from behind Steve. She didn’t know about a river, but she knew that soft reluctant voice. “Bucky?”

Bucky froze. The woman in purple. It wasn’t the same one from last time. It was… it couldn’t be...

Seeing Steve was bad enough. He’d come to terms with how Steve had survived. Dawn was dead, He had checked. Steve could look after himself. He’d had to be sure that Dawn wasn’t going to be in danger because of him. She had died almost a year ago now. His brain was rebelling. The hallucinations had gotten worse. That was it. Instead of haunting him with people he had killed now they were haunting him with the people he had loved most. “No. no, no, no.”

Dawn edged closer, touching his shoulder hesitantly. It was him. His hair was longer. The smile he had always greeted her with was gone. But it was him. “Bucky…”

He recoiled pressing himself against the wall. If she tried to touch him she would go right through. The same way he went through the other ones when he tried to push them away. He didn’t want to see her fingers disappearing into him. He didn’t want her ghost here at all. “No. You’re not here. You’re dead.”

“Bucky. It’s us. We’re here.” Steve set his hand reassuringly on Dawn’s shoulder. 

She reached for him again, her fingers just brushing his right arm. “Bucky.”

Solid fingers. Real, tangible pressure. She was real. Bucky took a step forward and touched Dawn’s face. Tracing the curve of her cheek. Soft, and warm, and everything he remembered in his few, blissful, good dreams. She was real. And she was here. If she was real then it followed that Steve was real too. They had interacted after all.

Dawn covered his hand with her own. It was familiar, even through the leather glove, the same hand that had tucked her hair behind her ear so many times. “We’re taking you home.”

Tears pricked in Bucky’s eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he had cried. He was sure it had been decades. He pulled his hand away from her face. “I can’t go home, Sunshine. They’re looking for me.”

“If you won’t come with me, then I’m staying here.” Dawn wrapped her arms around Bucky and buried herself in his chest. 

Steve blushed and looked away. Giving them this moment.

Bucky looked down at the head of soft wavy hair in confusion. Hands held awkwardly away from their bodies. _Does she not know?_ “Dawn....”

★

Natasha was surprised by how well the others took to the surveillance van. Ginny and Rosie were sitting on the crew bench with the medkit between them. Jack was in the passenger seat upfront, binoculars out, scanning the street ahead of them. Peggy had taken the seat next to Natasha, listening intently to the noise coming in over the headphones she was wearing, and studying the displays. 

“Hey, Cap?” Natasha frowned as she listened to the radio chatter. A new local frequency had popped up a few minutes ago. One that she was not finding comforting. “Remember that company we were expecting?”

“What kind showed up?” Steve's voice came back calm and level.

“The kind that I don’t think are actually local SWAT.” The kind that Nat was pretty sure was a Hyra strike team trying to mop up liabilities. The Winter Soldier knew too much to be left alive. She pulled up a live drone feed and set Tony's targeting program to highlight their opposition. There was a lot of opposition. Hydra may have sent more than one strike team.

“We’re on our way to you.” Steve's voice was still even and determined.

Peggy pursed her lips as she watched the dots Natasha had tagged move across the screen. They were clustering around the entrance, creating a nasty bottleneck. “They’re going to need an exit.” 

“Let’s give them one.” Natasha offered her a shotgun. “That roof next door looks promising.”

Peggy looked at the rest of their party, still sitting on their bench, waiting expectantly for orders. Orders from her. “Jack, take the wheel. Rosie, Ginny, be ready. They might need medical attention and we are definitely going to be leaving in a hurry.” 

★

Steve turned back to the couple. He hated to cut their reunion short, but they needed to get moving. “We have incoming.”

“Of course we do.” Bucky sighed. The heavy inevitably of violence settled over him. He carefully extracted himself from Dawn’s hold, keeping his left hand away from her.

"We might be able to talk our way out. Bluff them to avoid the fight." Dawn said. It was an optimistic thought. But she had largely avoided getting shot at during the war, and she would prefer to maintain that record.

"It always ends with a fight." Bucky said, pulling off his gloves. Fighting was what he was made for.

There was an explosion from the bottom of the stairs. Steve and Bucky made eye contact. They were out of time to come up with alternatives. There wasn't even time to get Dawn out.

Feet pounded up the stairs. Something crashed against the rickety door. Once. Twice. It splintered and exploded inward.

Bucky grabbed Dawn and thrust her behind Steve’s shield, moving in with her to cover both of them. He might not be able to get them out, but he could protect them.

A grenade clattered through the door. Steve clamped his shield over it. It detonated with a muffled boom. 

Dawn could feel it shake the floor even from behind Steve and Bucky. She wanted to cling to Bucky until the bad people went away. She wanted the fighting to stop. She wanted for there never to have been a faction that thought creating a brainwashed assassin to murder their political opponents was a viable option. Now that it was too late for that, she wanted the remainder of that faction to leave Bucky alone. She wanted the three of them to make it out of her and back to safety.

She wanted everything to be alright. That was the thought that filled her mind as Bucky's broad back moved away from her.

Bucky scooped a hand under the table, sending it flying legs first towards the door. It stuck deep into the wall. The first assailant slammed into it, unable to slow his charge in time. It wouldn't hold them long though. They need to get moving. He hauled his backpack out of its hiding spot under the floorboards. Regardless of what happened with the sudden appearance of Steve and Dawn, he was leaving this apartment and never coming back.

Dawn was too dazed to do anything other than submit as Bucky rushed back towards them and manhandled her into the straps of a ratty backpack. “Bucky what--”

Bucky fastened the strap across her chest with a definitive click. If she was alive, he was going to keep her that way. “Stay with Steve.”

Bucky sprinted out the door before she could say anything, sliding under the table barricade and launching himself straight into the heart of the fray. He had to clear a path. He had to get Steve and his Sunshine to safety.

Steve reached for Dawn, determined to keep her close as they followed Bucky into the hall. Bucky had the right idea. Get moving. Get out.

Dawn grabbed the harness that supported Steve’s shield when it wasn’t on his arm. She could hold on, and he could have his hands free. Steve nodded at her understanding and appreciating her action. He wrenched the table out of the wall and tossed it at the pair of Hydra strike operatives on the stairs.

Bucky was wreaking havoc among the men who had made it all the way to his landing. Whoever had sent them, they weren't prepared to take on the Winter Soldier. One punch was all it took to render his first victim unconscious. He covered the muzzle of a gun with his metal hand, the palm flexing as it absorbed two shots. He twisted the gun out of the man's hand and tossed it aside, breaking at least one finger in the process from the scream the act elicited. The scream that followed that one was longer, drawn out. Less pain, more terror, as Bucky grabbed him by the lapel and flung him into the void at the center of the stairs. Two more screaming men followed him, lashed together with the convenient carabiners on their vests.

Steve knocked out the last squad member with a snake-quick bash from his shield.

Bucky looked around for more targets.

The next squad had made it most of the way up to them. Two floors were all that separated them from Bucky's people. Bucky hurled one of the unconscious bodies down at them. The squad froze, looked down at the body, then up at Bucky. Bucky vaulted the railing, dropping into the middle of the crowd.

Dawn kept her eyes fixed on Steve's back or her own feet as he towed her along. She didn't want to know what was happening. Didn't want to know if the body she had just skittered around was dead or just unconscious. The sound of her pulse in her ears was almost loud enough to drown out the sounds of gunfire and flesh impacting flesh and other harder things around her. She abhorred this kind of violence, and there had been too much of it in her life. To say nothing of Bucky's or even Steve's. Natural talent and chemical enhancement only got you so far. To be as good at this as they were took practice. 

She squeezed her eyes closed and huddled closer to Steve's back as something that sounded suspiciously like a skull hit the wall next to her. Why were there still so many guns going off? How could anyone still be standing? Was Bucky hurt?

Bucky threw the last man down the stairs, sending him sprawling into the knot of mooks at the bottom. Untangling themselves would take time, but there was another squad moving in close behind. He could feel Steve and Dawn waiting a few feet away. "We're not going to make it down."

"Out then." Steve said nodding at the door to the apartment next to them. Nat and Peggy were out there. Just one building over. They would have cover fire, and hopefully a clear set of stairs. "We've got cover on the next roof over."

Bucky gave one curt nod. That would work. He kicked in the door. The apartment's occupants were thankfully absent. He did a quick clear anyway, before breaking down the door to the balcony. He could see the red-head who had been with Steve last time and someone who looked a lot like Peggy, holding down a firing position behind the ventilation system. Fifteen feet across the alley between the two buildings, a two story drop. Too far for Dawn to jump on her own, but Steve could get her across.

Bucky looked over his shoulder. Made eye contact with Steve, and launched himself across the gap first.

Steve took Dawn by the shoulders and made her look at him. There was commotion on the stairs again. Their attackers must have found a way past the blockage. He needed to cover their retreat, which meant Dawn was going to have to do this next bit on her own. “When you hit the roof, _roll_.”

Dawn couldn't stop herself from screaming as the ground disappeared from beneath her. Wind whipped at her. Her stomach dropped. The roof rushed up to meet her, and she twisted in the air. Her shoulder hit the ground. She remembered Steve's direction and let herself tumble instead of skid. She still jarred her left elbow pretty badly.

Then Bucky was grabbing her by the backpack and towing her towards where Peggy and Natasha had taken cover, keeping his left arm between her and the black figures above. He shoved her down behind the ventilation unit. It should be big enough to absorb any stray shots.

Bucky headed for the roof access to make sure the stairs were either clear or blocked off. This roof was an improvement, but not a huge one. Bullets started to pepper the gravel around him as the more intelligent of the men behind them broke into apartments other than the one Steve was holding.

Nat ground her teeth in frustration. Neither of the women had brought weapons of the right caliber to maintain a sustained cover at this distance. They shouldn't have to. Where the hell was Steve? Natasha hissed and clamped a hand to her side as a bullet tore across her ribs, leaving a red ragged gash in her leather jacket. _Damn it, Cap. Stop playing hero, we need to get out of here._

Peggy pushed her back with Dawn and took over cover fire. She took her time with her shots. She was running out of bullets for her rifle, she couldn’t afford to waste them. There were several long moments before she finally saw Steve emerge onto the balcony again. Tossing the man who had been firing at her over the railing, before launching himself across the gap, landing on his shield and rolling neatly to Peggy’s feet. Peggy, lowered her weapon to look at him. She had forgotten exactly how attractive he was in the heat of battle. Honestly, Steve tackling her out of the way of a Nazi car had been the moment she had known she wanted to be more than friends with Steve Rogers. Doubly so when he had apologised. “You’re late.”

“God, I love you.” Steve grinned and pushed himself to his feet in front of her. He only had a second to appreciate the moment before another volley of gunfire interrupted. He caught the bullets on his shield and hustled Peggy towards the rest of their group.

★

Five large heavy objects hit the roof of the van. Jack stuck his head out the side window and looked up. A long haired and wild eyed Bucky looked back at him. As did a stoic and determined Steve. 

“Drive.” Steve ordered. He kept a hand on the back of Dawn’s sweater as the van started to move. She was the one he was most worried about falling off.

Nat winced as she lay down on the roof. The graze on her side burned like crazy. She hated getting shot. It was something you never got used to.

Rosie popped the back door open and looked up, straight into Peggy's calm face. "You are way too relaxed."

"Oh, you know how it is, been in one car chase with a hail of gunfire, been in them all." Peggy quipped back, bracing as Jack skidded them around a corner and sped up.

Steve swung the girls into the vehicle, starting with Dawn, she was the least prepared for this, then Natasha, she was injured, and finally Peggy. Rosie and Ginny caught them and made sure they made it safely inside. Finally, only he and Bucky were left on the roof.

Bucky watched their back trail intently. A pair of unmarked black SUVs sped around the corner, jostling their way through traffic to get closer. “They’re still following us… me.”

“Us.” Steve said firmly. Bucky wasn't alone in this. “We’ll just have to draw them off."


	5. July 9th, 2014- Continued

Bucky swallowed. Us. We. It had been a long time since he'd been part of an ‘us’ or a ‘we’. It would be better if Steve went with the girls, but there was no arguing with Steve once he got the bit between his teeth. At least this way Bucky could watch out for him, and he had the shield. They had a better shot at this working if they tried it together.

If he and Steve left the van, Peggy, Dawn and the rest of them had a better shot at getting away. They were the more desirable targets. The lion's share of their attackers would follow them. Maybe even all of the attackers.

Bucky nodded to the upcoming overpass. It would be a good place to split. Force the choice.

Steve nodded back and prepared himself. Ten. Nine. Eight...

Steve and Bucky leapt from the back of the van and onto the hood of the following car. Already falling back into sync. Steve slammed his shield into the roof to anchor them, grabbing Bucky's belt with his other hand. Bucky punched through the windshield and jerked the wheel hard to the left. The car skidded as the driver slammed on the breaks, before accelerating again, trying to shake the men off.

Bucky kept his hand on the wheel as it ground along the guard rail. Poorly maintained as it was, he should be able to break through it and dump the car over the edge of the ramp.

Steve glanced over his shoulder just in time to see their surveillance van zip out of sight among the other traffic. He didn’t see any cars move to follow them. Like he’d suspected, Hydra was far more interested in him and Bucky than in Natasha and a bunch of ‘anonymous Stark employees’.

The guardrail finally gave, sending the SUV plunging towards the ground 20 feet below. Steve took three running strides to clear the falling vehicle, Bucky half a step behind him. They rolled as they hit the road, taking off running in the opposite direction of the van with their friends. The driver was less lucky. 

Dealing with one follow car didn’t deal with the threat as a whole. There were still at least two vehicles after them. They had one advantage their pursuers didn’t have. They were on foot. They could think three dimensionally. Bucky’s overpass plan made that an especially valuable advantage. Plunging over the edge with the falling car had been a bad idea. But a controlled drop to the next level down wasn’t. Steve thought he could see a further drop to a tunnel that ran under both levels a little way further down the road.

Steve nudged Bucky’s arm and jerked his head towards the drop. Bucky nodded and they took off running. A quick check over his shoulder told Steve that they were definitely still being followed. Three more vans full of Hydra had pulled up the on ramp and were closing fast. Bullets peppered the asphalt around their feet. Steve vaulted the rail first, dropping and rolling without breaking stride. Bucky landed easily next to him. Together they sprinted for the shelter of the tunnel.

Steve jogged to a stop in the middle of the tunnel. Ahead of them, the cars were all breaking hard. Swerving and bunching up. A few of them had carened over the center divider blocking off the other lanes. He could hear scraping metal and gunshots. It looked like Hydra had gotten around in front them. What they needed was a mode of transportation that would get them through this traffic jam.

Bucky set his eyes on an approaching motorcyclist. Motorcycles were good. Maneuverable.

He squared off right in the rider’s path. If they wanted to protect civilians they needed to get away from the civilians. Which might mean a little collateral damage. What was a broken bone or two in the grand scheme of things. 

He grabbed the handlebars with his left hand, shoving the rider sideways off the bike with his right. The rider went tumbling into the median, causing a car to swerve and crash into a pillar. Bucky kicked the back tire, spinning the bike and vaulting onto it in the same smooth motion. He gunned the bike in a tight circle to get used to how it handled.It had power, but the controls were responsive and the brake disks seemed fresh. Perfect.

Steve helped the rider back on his feet. Tucking a business card into his pocket as he did so. “Get to cover. Stay safe. And when this is over call the Stark International toll free line, ask for Maria Hill and tell her Steve borrowed your bike.”

Bucky said something in Romanian. Steve chose to assume he was translating the message, not threatening the poor guy. Either way he nodded frantically beneath his helmet and dashed towards cover.

“You coming?” Bucky asked, revving the motor. This would work. This would get them clear of the mess.

Steve swung his leg over the back of the bike and clipped his shield onto his back. “Why Buck, people will talk.”

“You not been on the internet, punk? People already talk.” Bucky grinned for the first time in years. He’d missed Steve. Even with the world crashing down around him, Steve made him feel like himself. He still would have felt better if the idiot had stayed safely away from him.

Steve snorted and grabbed Bucky around the waist. He had been on the internet. People did talk. People talked and wrote things that made him blush. He’d told Peggy. She’d laughed so hard she cried and made him read some of them to her.

‘Away’ was a more complicated proposition than Bucky would have considered ideal. Hydra had vehicles at both ends of the tunnel now, one side was fully blocked off, black clad men with guns streaming between the cars at that end, terrifying the poor trapped civilians. Bucky aimed for the other end. There was still a gap there, Bucky aimed straight for that gap. The sound of bullets pinging off Steve’s shield oddly familiar behind him.

A second wave of Hydra vehicles was closing in behind the first. An advancing V of reinforcements, threatening to close off their way out. _Where do they find them all?_

Steve hurled his shield into the hood of the car at the front of the V, lodging it in the engine block and bringing the truck to a skidding halt. The tires of the following cars screeched and metal crunched as they tried and failed to avoid crashing into the stopped car or each other.

Bucky nearly lay down the bike as he swerved close enough for Steve to wrench his shield free. Disabling the lead car caused enough of a gap in the line for them to punch through. He shifted gears, rocked his weight to the side to right the bike, and clotheslined the gunman trying to line up a point blank shot on them with his metal arm.

Two sharp lefts across streets where the traffic was still moving. 

A hard right down an alley. Steve caught the corner of a dumpster and pulled it over to block their path.

Another left.

If the driver of the car following them wasn’t a murderous faciest, Steve would be impressed with his ability to keep up. “We need more cover.”

Bucky nodded and banked towards one of the city’s main arterial roads that was almost always packed. Bumper to bumper traffic was where their maneuverability would shine.

Bucky zigaged his way through the traffic. A few shoulder checks told him that his offensive driving still hadn’t managed to shake their tail. Worse when he tried to make a lateral move, he discovered that there were more Hydra following them on the parallel streets. At this rate they were going to get boxed in. Bucky hated feeling cornered. Doubly hated it when he and Steve were cornered and neither of them were armed in any significant way.

He cut hard to the right, jumping a lane barricade onto an on ramp and weaving through the single crowded lane against the flow of traffic. He made another U-turn at the bottom, taking off in a completely different direction from the one they had been traveling earlier.

Steve looked back. There was still a black SUV there, and gaining on them. They weren’t going to shake them this way. He caught a glimpse of shimmering movement out of the corner of his eye. ...That could work...

“Lose them in the river?” Steve called over the combined noise of the engine and the wind.

Bucky took his eyes full off the road to look at him. “How long has it been since I told you I hate your plans?”

“About 70 years.” Steve felt a smile spread across his face. Under fire, time running out, Bucky snarking at him. It was good to be home.

Bucky shook his head, closed his eyes, and laid the bike down right at the edge of the drop. The motorcycle tumbled into the river first, with Steve and Bucky skidding after it. They plunged through the air, shoving away from each other so they wouldn't collid when they hit the river. 

Bucky exhaled just before his feet hit the water.

★ 

Half a kilometer downstream. Steve broke the surface, dragging Bucky by the collar. He looked around to make sure they really had shaken their pursuit, and struck out for shore. He hauled Bucky onto the bank first, then dropped down himself. It was over. At least it was probably over. He pressed his coms unit to transmit again. "Hey Nat? We could use a pick up."

Bucky rolled over and coughed up a lung full of water. He hated Steve’s plans. He doubly hated when they worked. It only encouraged the idiot.

Five minutes later, Jack rolled the van to a stop on the street above them. Steve helped Bucky to his feet, draping his arm around his shoulders and taking fully half his weight as they stumbled up the bank.

The back of the van swung open. Rosie stood there with towels draped over her shoulder. "Well? Get in. We have a flight to catch."

Bucky blinked in confusion as Steve helped him into the van. Dawn, Peggy, Ginny, Jack, and Rosie. Practically the whole gang. All alive and inexplicably in Romania. Steve’s red-headed friend was laying on her side on the floor, as Ginny stitched her side. Jack was driving, Peggy in the passenger seat. Rosie was still calmly holding the towels. And Dawn… Dawn was sitting on the bench seat along the wall of the van, worried gaze fixed on him.

A small part of him wanted to go to her. To kiss away that worry and fear. Tell her everything was going to be alright. A larger part of him reminded that part that the man she has loved was dead. He was just the killer that had stolen his body. Steve's hand on his shoulder shook him out of his panic. Bucky let Steve guide him to a seat. He draped the towel around his neck, and put his head between his knees, dripping dully on the floor.

Steve squeezed Bucky's shoulder and nodded for Jack to start driving again. It was time to go home.

★

Dawn reached for Bucky's hand as the jet finally took off. He was safe. They were on their way back to the security of Steve’s home.

Bucky jerked away from her. She had tried to touch the arm. His Sunshine was a pure innocent creature, he didn't want to think about her touching the bloody weapon. Seeing it might make him throw up.

Dawn shifted closer to Ginny. She wasn't sure what she had done wrong. This new damaged Bucky, was going to be a puzzle to figure out. One she wasn’t entirely sure she was up to.

Ginny cuddled Dawn against her side. Glaring at Bucky behind Dawn's head. She didn't care what he had been through, she wouldn't forgive him if he broke Dawn's heart. Her friend had already suffered for loving him. The last thing she needed was more pain.

Steve caught the exchange and rubbed Bucky's back. The same way Bucky had always rubbed his back to help him through asthma attacks. They could figure all this out. There was still hope Bucky could be happy, and at very least he was safe now.

Bucky felt all his major muscles start to quiver. He'd experienced more emotions in the last four hours than he had in the last 70 years. All he wanted to do was curl into a ball, fall asleep, and wake up to discover that this had all been a crazy dream. He hung his head between his knees and took long slow breaths. From this angle, he had a strange upside down view of Dawn leaning against Ginny. A crazy, crazy, dream. Steve kept up his soothing circles on his back, they meant something. 

He didn't know what.

★

Natasha stretched out her side and dropped her belt on the gear table. It ached, and the stitches pulled. She hated getting shot. At least this time she hadn't lost enough blood to need a transfusion. She should probably take antibiotics for a couple weeks. Which would also mean eating yogurt and dealing with Tony following her around with probiotic smoothies and a concerned look.

This was why she had resisted moving into the Tower before the whole Hydra thing. She didn't like being coddled. She would rather deal with things on her own, even if it was a struggle, than be treated like a fragile flower.

Rosie shot the redhead a look as she dropped the still damp towels from the jet in the waiting hamper. "You should get that properly cleaned and redressed." 

"Yeah." Nat grimaced. She should. The field dressing was effective, but there was just no way to get things really sterile in the back of a moving van. And given that Ginny had swept Dawn out of the room and away from Barnes as soon as they had touched down, that meant she was going to have to explain how she'd gotten shot to someone else. "I'll call Bruce once I get all this put away."

"I can do it." Rosie offered. It had been a couple of years since she had changed a bandage, but she could dust off the skills.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. Ginny was definitely the medical one of the group. Still, if she didn't have to tell Bruce… then Bruce wouldn't tell Clint, and Clint wouldn't cut what he was doing short to come look after her, and she wouldn't get irritated at the men of the Avengers fretting at her, and she wouldn't snap at them, and she wouldn't have to deal with Steve's 'I'm disappointed and worried about you' look. It was a spectacular idea. As long as Rosie did a good enough job that she didn't get an infection and have to deal with everything she wanted to avoid but five times worse.

Rosie shrugged. It wasn't like Natasha was badly hurt. There had been a period where Rosie had stitched up a cut like hers three of four times a day. "I was a nurse."

★

Natasha lay on the medical exam table. Her shirt neatly folded by her head, arm stretched above her head to give Rosie access to her injured side. In retrospect, she probably should have taken her bra off too. For some reason, she had been reluctant to. Which was odd for her. Natasha had never been body shy. It was a poor use of mental energy.

It had to be something about Rosie. Natasha watched her as she prepared a swab with iodine. Maybe she gave off the same old fashioned, pure as the driven snow, morally upright, and virtuous aura Steve did. She definitely had a certain gentle and benevolent healing touch thing going on. The very picture of a stereotypical nurse. The kind they used to put on propaganda posters.

She hissed as the yellow liquid stung her side. Okay. Maybe not that gentle. But she did seem to know what she was doing. 

"Sorry." Rosie set aside the used swab and reached for the gauze pad to cover the wound. "Worst part is over."

Modern wound dressing was so much more convenient than the old way of doing it. No more worrying about things slipping out of place or big loops of gauze getting tangled with anything that brushed the patient's torso. Rosie smoothed the final strip of tape into place. Although she did have to work a lot harder at not staring inappropriately at the patient in this century. To be fair, she hadn’t worked on a lot of patients that looked like the woman currently on the table… none really. She hadn't considered that detail when she made her offer. Just noticed that Natasha was struggling and known that she could help. 

She cleared her throat, racking her brain for some topic of conversation to distract them both. "Ginny did a good job. Especially considering we were moving. There still might be a little scaring."

Natasha huffed, coldly amused. Scaring? From getting shot? Who would have thought. "Wouldn't be the first time."

No. It obviously wasn’t. There was a bullet scar on her shoulder. The shot had hit right below her collar bone, the bullet had probably gotten caught on her shoulder blade before it could exit. Rosie wondered if they had taken the bullet out when they patched her up, or if the lead was still resting there. 

A second larger scar marred Natasha’s abdomen. It was longer, almost three inches, and nowhere near as clean. This wasn’t an injury that had been taken care of right away. The shiny livid white rope of knotted flesh surrounded by stark red spoke of an injury left to fester. Shot in the field. Forced to run rather than get help or take care of herself. Rosie stroked the skin under the ridge. A through and through? Or had this one hit bone too? If she reached around, would there be a matching mark on her back. Or would the skin be as smooth and soft as the areas she had touched on Natasha's side. Her eyes slowly drifting to Natasha's.

Natasha had known that Rosie had green eyes. She hadn't realized exactly how bright they were. Big, luminous, eyes ringed with long golden lashes. She sat up very slowly. It wasn't just Rosie's eyes. She had the most amazing lips. Soft pink lips that she had just licked enticingly.

Sitting on the edge of the exam table, Natasha's head was a few inches higher than Rosie's. A fact that Natasha was very conscious meant that standing side by side, or better yet front to front, Rosie would be within an inch of her height. Put her in a good pair of heels… Natasha kind of wanted to see what she looked like in a good pair of heels. Were they the same size? Could Rosie borrow hers? The emerald green peep toes, with a nice cocktail dress...

Wrapping her hand around the back of Rosie's neck wasn't an entirely conscious decision. Neither was tipping her head to the side and matching their mouths together. 

Deepening the kiss was. One she made when Rosie's hands curled around her thighs and made a greedy noise.

Natasha hooked her ankle around the back of Rosie's leg, reeling her in closer. How long had it been since she'd kissed someone just because she wanted to? A year, at least. And this. This was a good kiss. She wanted more.

"You're hurt." Rosie whispered into the air between them. Endorphins made people do all sorts of things they wouldn’t normally do.

"Just kiss me." Natasha whispered back, running her nose along Rosie's. She didn't care if she was hurt. While she was kissing Rosie she could almost forget about the pain in her ribs. She could forget about a lot of things.

Rosie could do that. Rosie would be happy to do that. Even if this was just something Natasha needed today, Rosie doubted she would regret it later. It wasn't a desperate, scared kind of kissing. Just a needy hedonistic hungry kind. 

There was nothing wrong with seeking a little pleasure to offset life's pain.


End file.
